Stream It Or Skip It? 

It’s Season 37 of The Simpsons, as the prime-time animated series just keeps thriving, well on its way to the big 4-0. Marge is still very much with us – guest that was just a misdirect into the afterlife for the jokes; we’ve all been there – there’s a new Treehouse of Horror episode on the way, and guest voices this season will include Idris Elba, Ike Barinholtz, Kerry Washington, Cole Escola, and Viola Davis. But for the most part, The Simpsons is just continuing to exist on its own animated TV plane. A 22-minute moment of wacky zen, times 22 episodes.

Opening Shot: It’s the big opening/closing weekend of the hottest new movie in Springfield, Hungry Hungry Hippos: Multiverse of Munching! But it’ll be streaming in three days, so the Simpsons can watch it at home on the couch.

The Gist: Well, they could watch it, were it not for the ceaseless prattle of ads clogging up the streaming experience. Marge gets angry at the spots, which seem to feature a different power for every body part, but Homer and Bart yuk it up to “Elbow Crotch” and “Gunk Tunnel.” The experience leads Marge to the closet, a stack of DVDs, and her favorite 90s teen drama, Keagan’s Pond, with Lisa soon joining her binge-watch, while the boys get sucked into their own streaming marathon. It’s the punching and kicking and “Do I have the right to remain violent?” catchphrase slaying of Clincher, a Springfield Universe version of Reacher.  

The totally 90s fashion featured in Keagan’s leads to a search through the attic for Marge’s old clothes, and suddenly Lisa Simpson is rocking the coolest vintage looks. The famous orange dress is retired in favor of Paul Frank T’s, combat boots, spaghetti strap dresses, and bucket hats. It’s giving both Reality Bites and, as Marge says of Lisa’s new friends, “The cast of Euphoria.” But when cool kids Devin (Escola) and Vidalia (Stephanie Hsu) rope Lisa into a Bling Ring-style den of thieves, she’s suddenly not sure it’s the vibe she wants to put out.

The Simpsons isn’t going to like, suddenly add another baby who’s also a talking supergenius, or an alien sidekick who drinks dry martinis, or a sentient blob neighbor who always gets Home into trouble. Well, we don’t know that for sure. Maybe it will. Almost 40 seasons is a long time. (And that last scenario might be kind of funny.) But we can say with confidence that reliability is bred in that same span of time. Marge, Homer, Lisa, and Bart will always be up to something that feels immediately familiar, but cut and shined with the addition of a few brand-new zingers, either bizarre or timely. (For example, the Clincher bit here in Season 37 kills.) It’s nice when something is reliable and well-made and hasn’t been made worse over time through desperate additions or meddling with what works. Cowabunga, dude! The Simpsons just are.  

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? These days Fox features The Simpsons as part of an “Animation Domination” block that includes Krapopolis, Universal Basic Guys, and the 16th season of Bob’s Burgers. 

Our Take: “Please. Have you ever seen Sherri slay, or so much as serve?” When Lisa walks into the cool kids’ fashion hangout in the first episode of The Simpsons Season 37, Terri of classmate twins Sherri and Terri is already in the crew. It’s a nice example of the show drawing from its deep bench of side characters, who when they appear in an episode make it familiar. Add in the wrinkle of Terri dropping all the Gen Alpha slang on Lisa, and it’s also a wonderful example of how that same sense of Simpsons familiarity is forever featuring nice little upgrades. We’re not saying we want, like, Moe to suddenly be wearing Meta AI glasses or something. But that Moe exists as a vessel to make such a joke – like Terri being in on Lisa’s vintage clothing journey – is why we’re so glad this show is still itself slaying after so many seasons.  

Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman has said he’s “super in denial” about any kind of core cast replacement, which is another way of saying real world problems can also hit harder as something gets older. But we’re with him in not wanting to think about it. Instead, Marge and Homer, Bart and Lisa, even that distinguished list of side-characters, your Ned Flanders and your Smithers – they remain ageless, so The Simpsons, as the seasons hopefully spool into infinity and it remains enshittification-proof, can continue to cook.  

Sex and Skin: No way! 

Parting Shot: “I’ll be in high school/For eterniteeeeee” – The theme song for the Dawson’s Creek-esque Keagan’s Pond that plays us out of the Season 37 premiere is a pretty funny riff on the form. Very Paula Cole. 

Sleeper Star: Ralph Wiggum in your socials saying “I’m in danger!” is an everyday occurrence now, so it’s nice to see Ralph Wiggum pop up to say something else. “If you see Ralph in the mirror, say hi!” 

Most Pilot-y Line: It’s like Project Runway broke out in the hallways of Springfield Elementary. “Lisa, darling, we were worried you might be a ‘one-fit wonder,’ but we’ve been loving the vintage look!”

Our Call: Stream It, of course. The Simpsons Season 37? It could be season eight million and we’d be saying Stream It. Wholesome, reliable, and lightly subversive in the way the Springfield universe mirrors our own, The Simpsons remains a wonderful place to escape to.

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How To Watch The Simpsons

New episodes of The Simpsons air on Fox on Sunday nights. Episodes from Season 37 of this venerable animated series will be available to stream on Hulu next day, and all episodes of previous seasons are available to stream on Disney+.

If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $9.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.

If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $10.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $29.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.

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Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.